Pupils from the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Special School visit The LookOut, Hyde Park every week to help them to complete a module in horticulture.
After digging the raised beds, adding compost, watering and carefully tending their plants all summer, the group have successfully produced a fine crop of food.
In summer they harvested potatoes, spinach and rocket before turning their attention to their autumn crops. Then came the garlic and onions, followed by a bumper crop of tomatoes, from which they produced tomato chutney. The latest crop included purple skinned carrots and baby beetroot.
As the nights draw in and the season is coming to an end the pupils have now cleared all the remaining plants from the beds and have started to prepare the soil for next year. The compost heap now has a fresh supply of matter to rot down over the winter and the raised beds have been filled with fresh compost.
In preparation for the first warmth of spring, the beds have been planted with daffodil bulbs. Let’s hope the squirrels leave them in position until next year!
13 November 2013
